Protect Me
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: Part three in the "Breaking series." Sequel to "Leave Me." Beck and Jade reveal a whole other part of their lives that they've been keeping a secret from their closest friends... and the painful past that started it all. Bade with Tandre side-pairing this time. Three-shot
1. Beck

**You guys asked for another "Breaking series" story, so here it is! The further explanation of the somewhat cloudy subtext in Beck's and Jade's chapters of "Leave Me." This chapter takes place a couple months after "Leave Me," and I did take some liberties with the pre-series timeline.**

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Seventeen year old Beck Oliver sighed as he opened the front door to his RV. Once he had dropped Jade off here after school, he had immediately gone out to get some groceries, hadn't even stepped foot inside of his RV yet. Now, hauling a plastic bag on each arm, Beck did just that. Or at least he tried to. Getting past the doorway proved to be a problem when he tripped over a pink, plastic baby doll bed.

Although he was still glad to be home, he almost growled when he saw the toys spread all across the RV floor. He kicked the cheap toy across the room and watched it clatter against the opposite wall.

"Roxy," Jade tapped the shoulder of the toddler who was sitting and coloring at the popup table, saying, "Why don't you and Mommy pick up your toys while Daddy puts the groceries away, okay?"

"Daddy?" Roxy repeated excitedly as her little head popped up, causing her fine black curls to bounce.

Beck couldn't help but smile as he sat the grocery bags down on the couch. Apparently she hadn't noticed when he came in; she'd been too fixated on coloring Sophia the First - who would have guessed what color? – pink. He walked over and placed his palms flat on the table, leaning down until he was brown eyeball to blue eyeball, smiling broadly for her.

"Yes, Daddy."

Little arms were thrown around his neck, and he straightened up slowly, leaving her hanging for a second until she laughed before he slid his own arms underneath the two year old. "Daddy! Grandma cookies?"

"Grandma" being Beck's mother – more of a grandparent to little Roxy then any of her biological grandparents would ever be.

"Did Grandma give you cookies?" he asked, bouncing her in his arms.

Her little face scrunched up, and Beck took that as his cue that he had misinterpreted whatever he was being told. He turned to Jade for the answer.

"She made cookies with Grandma today," Jade supplied.

"Oh, you did?" Beck chuckled as he made conversation with his step-daughter.

Short black curls bounced vigorously as she nodded, then pointed to the evidence – two cookies on a plate set on a far corner of the table.

"Yous!" Roxy informed him.

"For me! Yum!"

"Mommy!"

"You mean I've got to share?" Beck pretended to pout.

Roxy giggled, nodding again.

"Okay," Beck sighed.

"Alright, Rox," Jade broke in. "you and I need to get these toys picked up and we need to see if we can't get you to take a nap before supper. I think Grandma might have let you eat too much cookie dough at her house."

Beck cringed at the thought as he lowered the little girl to the floor. She ran towards the toys and began picking them up alongside Jade as Beck took care of the groceries.

Once Roxy was laying in his and Jade's bedroom, Jade flopped down onto the couch with her homework, and Beck took a seat at the table. The only time that they usually had for homework was when Roxy was asleep or at his parents' place.

Taking his homework out of his backpack, he realized that he had forgotten to put his ring on after he and Jade had left the school. Digging it out of his back pocket, he slid the gold band casually onto his ring finger and set to work on his algebra.

"I think I'll take care of supper tonight," he said after a few minutes of silent concentration.

"Why?" Jade asked, looking up at him. "It's my night."

He kept on working the problems as he answered, "Yeah, I know, but you've had a bad day."

"I have?"

Beck sighed as he looked over at her, holding her gaze as he said, "I know that this thing with Tori is still a little hard on you some days."

Jade licked her lips and set her homework aside, signaling that they were heading into a long conversation as she said, "I've been thinking about that."

"What about it?"

"About… us, actually."

"What about it?" Beck repeated.

"I think that we should tell them," she blurted out.

"Tell them about what?" he asked. "They already know that we're together."

"About all of it; they just think that we're dating. They don't know that I live here, that we've been married for over a year; Andre thinks that I gave Roxy up for adoption, and the rest of them don't even know that she exists…" her voice dropped to something low and almost scared as she added, "Let alone what started all of this."

Beck abandoned his homework and went to sit beside his wife, pulling her close as she rested her head on his chest. "Do you want to tell them that? No one has to know. You can tell them everything but the last part and no one will question a thing. I'm her daddy in all the ways that count, and that's all that matters to me; that's all that would matter to them."

Jade shook her head. "I want to tell Tori. And I want you to be there with me when I tell Andre everything. I don't care if Robbie and Cat know, they started going to our school after I had already had Roxy, so they won't suspect anything. It would probably be better if they don't know… Tell Robbie if you have to, but I don't think that Cat would know how to handle knowing 'that last part.'"

Beck nodded, agreeing with her assessment. He kissed her hair, rubbing his hand up and down her arm as he asked, "So how do you want to do it?"

She paused, thinking before she answered, "Let's invite them all over this Saturday; we can ask Tori and Andre to stay a little later then Robbie and Cat and give them the whole story when it's just the four of us."

"What about Roxy?" Beck asked.

"We can let her stay here; she won't understand what we're talking about."

"Okay," he just held her for a second, then repositioned so that he was looking straight into his wife's clear blue eyes as he asked, "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

A moment of pained indecision flashed through her eyes before he saw resolve replace it as she nodded. "I just need you to be with me when I do."

"I've always been there for you;" _Except for once. _"I've always protected you, and I always will. I promise."

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**Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter! Reviews make my day full of rainbows and Roxy's cookies! Thanks!:)**


	2. Jade

Jade took a deep breath, steeling herself as the first knock came at the RV door. Per what she and Beck had agreed on, he went outside and waited with whoever had shown up until all four of their friends were here, that way they could all come in at once.

Before he went outside, her husband kissed her gently, knowing that she needed the reassurance, and promised, "It'll be okay; you'll see."

He went outside, and his voice and Robbie's floated past the RV door, one person's presence soothing her and the other's terrifying her.

It wasn't that their friends hadn't come to the RV within the past two years – them not being allowed here would've made them far too suspicious of something being more than what it seemed – but when they did come over, she and Beck were very careful. All of Roxy's things and most of hers were secured in the miniscule bedroom behind the closed door, and Roxy was always left with someone else, usually Beck's parents, while their friends were here. This was going to be the first time that any of their friends had seen the RV in all of what had become its normal glory – pink toys everywhere, a little girl who looked like her mommy running around in the midst of it all, and the wedding rings. Though they didn't have them on yet, today Beck and Jade were actually going to where their wedding rings in front of their totally oblivious friends for the first time ever.

Soon she heard Cat, Andre, and Tori show up as well, and her stomach started doing cartwheels. She felt like she might throw up.

She forced herself to take another deep breath and tamp down her panic when Beck poked his head in and said, "The gang's all here. Are you ready?"

She swallowed and nodded.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he said, and Jade was shaken by the thought that this would be the last time that she would get that option.

"No," she managed, drawing in another deep breath, one that miraculously seemed to help loosen the tension in her chest a little. "Let them in."

Andre came in first; looking utterly confused as he scanned the RV and noticed the toys. Cat came in behind him, and her gaze instantly found the source of the mess where she was again sitting at the table, this time munching on more cookies from Grandma. She squealed and dove for Roxy, who was apparently in a good enough mood so as not to balk at being scooped up by a stranger.

"Doing babysitting duty?" Robbie asked cheerfully as he leaned against an corner of the RV to get out of the way.

"More like tornado watch, by the looks of things," Rex shot off.

Jade glared at the puppet, then turned to glance at Tori as she came in last, her expression much like Andre's.

Andre… As Jade watched, his expression changed into one of shock as he realized what he was actually seeing. Though the eyes that he turned first to her and then to Beck were full of questions, he kept his mouth shut, and for that Jade was grateful.

"Not quite," Beck started, gesturing at the seating around them. "Why don't you guys sit down. Do you want anything to drink or eat? My mom brought cookies over."

Cat got a cookie and Robbie grabbed a soda then they all sat down. Cat held Roxy in her lap at the table, Andre sat across from them, Robbie repositioned himself on the floor, and Tori slid in beside her new boyfriend, Andre.

Beck sat down on the couch beside Jade, looped his arm around her shoulders and began to explain. "We are kind of on babysitting duty," he started, "Just… permanent babysitting duty."

"What do you mean?" Andre piped up for the group.

Jade took a deep breath, releasing it slowly before she admitted, "I... got pregnant in eighth grade. Andre, you already knew that, but what you didn't know is that I kept the baby."

Beck nodded to the little girl in Cat's arms, supplying, "Roxy."

Jade went on, trying not to let her voice shake, as she said, "She was born the very beginning of my freshman year at Hollywood Arts."

"You met Cat and I right after," Robbie realized, sounding shell shocked.

Jade nodded.

Andre looked at Beck, starting to ask carefully, "Is she-"

The sharpness in the look that came into Beck's eyes wasn't one that Jade remembered seeing before, and it shut Andre up mid-sentence.

"Um," Jade drew the attention back to herself as she continued, "My parents… kicked me out of the house when they realized that I wasn't going to give Roxy up for adoption."

A muscle jumped in Andre's jaw at that, and Beck took over her little speech, saying, "That's when I got my RV and she moved in here with me. And then…"

He looked over at her and she couldn't help but smile, just barely, at what she saw in his eyes, as she added, "On my sixteenth birthday…"

Beck turned back to look at each of their friends in turn as he said, "We went up to the courthouse and got married."

"Married!" Cat and Robbie were on their feet, and Andre would have been too, had he not been pinned in by Tori and the table.

Beck nodded, once again fishing his wedding ring out of his back pocket and putting it on as Jade did the same.

"See?" Beck held up his hand for inspection.

Cat was the first to actually react, and in true best friend of the bride form, demanded to see Jade's rings. Glad that she could breath freely again and that the secret was finally out, Jade happily obliged her.

"Don't you want to see, Tori?" Cat asked the Latina sweetly.

When Jade turned to Tori, she was bothered by what she saw in the other girl's eyes. Despite the time that had gone by and the fact that she was now in a relationship with Andre, Tori still had her bad days, and something told Jade that today had just become one of those days.

Tori Vega knew that something was still being left unsaid.

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**Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter! Reviews make my day full of rainbows and Roxy's ****cookies! Thanks!:) **

**P.S. I've got a new poll up, if you guys want to take a look at it! Thanks!:)**


	3. Tori

Tori tried to act like she was having an okay day, and in some ways she was. She had been as startled as Robbie, Cat, and Andre had been by Beck and Jade's revelations – probably more so then at least Andre, really – but she still got the feeling that there was something that they were keeping back. The question that Andre hadn't been allowed to finish, that had been given no answer, bugged her to no end. Who was the father of Jade's baby? Who was Roxy's biological dad?

Of course, the reasonable, even obvious answer was Beck. He and Jade had become a couple in eighth grade. Had little Roxy been the reason why? Or was the father another person entirely? Some of the options running through Tori's mind made her blood feel as if someone had inserted ice water into her veins.

After almost two hours of hanging out in Beck's – apparently Beck and Jade's – RV, Beck tactfully asked Robbie and Cat to leave, citing that Roxy was exhausted and it was already past her normal naptime. When Tori went to grab her purse and make her own exit, Jade grabbed her arm and whispered softly in her ear, "We need you and Andre to stay for a minute longer."

Tori's eyes met Jade's solemn, almost scared, almost caring gaze and her stomach flipped again with that same feeling of trepidation. Whatever Jade wanted to hear apparently wasn't meant for Cat's or even Robbie's ears, and that meant that chances were she wouldn't like it either. Even so, Tori nodded, set her purse back down, and settled back into her spot at the table.

Once Robbie and Cat had left and Jade had put Roxy down for her nap, Andre sat down beside her once again and Beck slid in across from Andre, leaving Jade to sit down across from her.

Pushing aside the soda that he had grabbed, Andre got straight to the chase, asking a little sharply, "What's going on?"

Beck put his elbows on the table, rubbing his fingers back and forth as he sighed. His gaze was fastened on his hands and there was a definite undercurrent of tension coming from both him and Jade as he said, "I know that we've never addressed it directly… and I'm sorry if this reopens wounds that are already healing… but what we told the whole group is not the whole story."

Tori jumped up from the table, knowing in the pit of her stomach what she was about to hear yet wanting no part of it.

"Tori," Jade grabbed her wrist. "Please stay." She swallowed, adding, "We have to finish this now, at least with Andre. I know it sounds pathetic, but that would be me and two guys, and I don't want to go back there without you here."

Tori stared straight into her eyes, startled by the sincerity, the vulnerability, that she saw there. It didn't sound pathetic, it sounded familiar, and for that reason, Tori grudgingly sat back down.

"We didn't want to say anything with Cat or Robbie here if we didn't have to," Beck explained. "I'm sorry if we freaked you out." He turned to Andre, adding, "And that I cut you off… and that we've lied to you for so long."

"Nah," Andre took a deep breath and sat back against the seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I get it."

All three of the others sitting around the table flinched, knowing just how much was said in those three words.

"Do you remember Eric Randall?" Jade came back to the topic at hand as she turned to Andre, the words coming out sounding like they physically hurt the Goth.

"Yeah," Andre nodded. "He was a senior when we were in eighth grade; his step-sister, Becky, is in my science class."

Jade nodded, looking Tori in the eye as she said, "He's Roxy's biological father."

A long strained pause came between the four, leaving only when Tori asked quietly, "Where is he now?"

"Rotting away in prison," Beck answered.

Jade nodded towards her… husband… saying, "When he found out that I was pregnant, he convinced me to go to the cops about what Eric had done. I managed to keep the trial a secret from everybody but Beck along with everything else. Eric's not going to get back out of prison for at least another eight years."

"That doesn't seem like much time," Andre said under his breath.

Jade shrugged. "At least I know that I did my part."

"Isn't it hard though?" Tori asked, her eyebrows drawing together. "Knowing that he's still alive, and going to get out eventually?"

Again Jade shrugged, saying, "I've just had to learn to live with that fact, just like I've had to learn to deal with all that the situation created. But, yes, it is hard… sometimes it's very hard; even now I have my moments, days, sometimes even a week or so, that I'll go through feelings of depression… worthlessness… even feelings like shame and self-hatred."

"What gets you past it?" Tori asked softly, needing on so many levels to hear her answer.

"Beck," Jade pointed to the closed bedroom door. "Roxy." She smiled a little, admitting, "After Eric attacked me, Beck and my family kept me going for the first couple of months," Jade sighed, shifting in her seat and glancing at her hands as she continued, "And then I found out that I was pregnant." She took a deep breath before admitting, "That almost killed me." She snorted, "It made me almost kill myself."

Tori's pulse doubled and she began to wonder just how much the Goth knew.

Jade was struggling to speak now, and Tori was shocked to realize that she was actually fighting tears. "Beck found me in an empty classroom one day after school, about a month after I found out I was pregnant. I had tried to slit my throat with a pair of scissors. He got Psychowits and the two of them got me to the ER. Right before I was released from the hospital, he talked me into getting an ultrasound done so that I could see my baby. My parents and I had already decided that an abortion would be the best choice, but when I saw her there on that screen, I knew that I couldn't put an end to something so beautiful as my baby girl, no matter how she had been given to me." Jade met Tori's gaze unflinchingly, saying, "Roxy is what almost killed me, but in the end she is what kept me alive and willing to fight to heal from what had happened to me. And I'd like to think that, at the end of the day, I have healed." She swallowed, saying hoarsely, almost tenderly, "And if you're willing to fight for you – and for the sake of those who you are important to – then you'll heal too, no matter what you're feeling right now."

Tori closed her eyes, the truth of it all unbalancing her as she realized why exactly Beck and Jade had come clean today.

Jade knew.

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**Longest and last chapter of the story. Yes, I am ending this story of the series like this and yes, I probably am evil for doing so. Is anyone interested in a sequel to it? Anywho, ****hopefully you guys enjoyed this story! Reviews make my day full of rainbows and Roxy's ****cookies! Thanks!:)**

**P.S. I've got a new poll up, if you guys want to take a look at it! Thanks!:)**


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